Gingerbread Cookies
Author: 
Serves: makes 24-28 4-inch cookies
 
Ingredients
  • 4 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or your favorite gluten-free flour blend +1 tsp. xanthan gum)
  • ¾ teaspoon baking soda
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • 4 teaspoons ground ginger
  • 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • ¾ teaspoon ground cloves
  • ½ teaspoon allspice
  • a few grinds finely ground black pepper (optional)
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • ⅔ cup dark natural cane sugar (i.e. muscavado), or dark brown sugar, packed
  • 2 large eggs
  • ⅔ cup unsulphured molasses (not blackstrap unless you like that bitterness)
  • large grain sugar for decorating or mini-chocolate chips or currants
Instructions
  1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt and spices. Set aside.
  2. In a bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or by hand), cream the butter until it is light and fluffy. Add the sugar and mix again until light and creamy, about 2-3 minutes. Blend in the eggs one at a time and then the molasses. Add the flour mixture in two additions either by hand or on low speed. Divide the dough in two pieces, wrap each in plastic and chill for at least an hour.*
  3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with unbleached parchment paper or Silpats.
  4. Roll the dough out onto a lightly floured countertop to about ⅛-inch thick and cut with cookie cutters of your choice. ** Reroll the scraps and continue to cut additional cookies. Decorate with sugar crystals, dried fruit or chocolate chips before baking. For softer cookies, roll out a little thicker. Transfer to baking sheets and bake for 10-12 minutes for 3-4-inch cookies (less for smaller cookies, more for larger.) I like to see a little tinge of golden color around the edges of the cookies. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheets for 2 minutes and then transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
*Dough can be prepared up to 2 days in advance.

**If you are not comfortable rolling on your countertop, roll the cookies out on a piece of parchment cut to fit the baking sheet. Remove scraps. Then transfer the parchment and cookies to the sheet and bake.
Recipe by Pamela Salzman at https://pamelasalzman.com/gingerbread-cookies-recipe/